List of monarchs of East Anglia

This is a chronological list of the monarchs of East Anglia, formally known as The Kingdom of the East Angles, one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and ceased being independent in 918, having been conquered by Wessex, another member of the Heptarchy.

Many of the dates of this time are considered unreliable, often being based on computation from known dates. Regnal years may be counted twice, since all or part of a year may be attributed: for instance, the period attributed below to Ricberht (the East Anglian apostasy) is said by the contemporary author Bede to have lasted for three years, and is computed allowing all or part of the years 627, 628 and 629 to this interregnum or unknown reign.

The names are given in modern English form, followed by the names and titles (as far as is known) in contemporaneous Anglo-Saxon English and Latin, being the recorded languages of the time. Note that the title 'REX' is not recorded specifically for any East Anglian ruler before Rædwald: the earlier names derive from the genealogical tally (not regnal list) in the Anglian Collection and the Historia Britonum. They are normally styled rulers of the East Angle people (Angli Orientales), not of East Anglia (Anglia Orientalis). The title Rex Anglorum is used of Rædwald, and Rex Ang. (indeterminate, probably Anglorum) of Aethelstan and Eadmund in their coinage.

This was a time when spellings varied widely, even within a document. A number of variations of the details below exist. Amongst these are the preference between þ and ð (voiceless and voiced th).

A character resembling '7' (the so-called Tironian et) was used as the ampersand '&' in contemporary Anglo-Saxon writings. The era pre-dates the emergence of forms of writing accepted today, notably minuscule, and the letters 'W' and 'U'. Where W was followed by U this was generally rendered as 'VV' (which was also used for 'W' alone).

For a graphical chart of the first kings, see this family tree.

List of the Kings of the East Angles

Reign	Incumbent	Contemporary title	Notes
??? to ???	Wehha	VVEHHA VVILHELMING ESTANGLE CYNING VVEHHA REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	'The first to rule over the East Angles' (Historia Britonum)
ante 571 to 578	Wuffa	VVFFA VVEHHING ESTANGLE CYNING VVFFA REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Eponymous ancestor of the Wuffing dynasty, 'ruling' in 571 (Roger of Wendover)
578 to 599	Tytila	TYTTLA VVFFING TYTTLA REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	'Took up the helm of the kingdom' (Roger of Wendover)
599 to 624	Rædwald	RÆDVVALD TYTTLING ESTANGLE CYNING RÆDVVALD REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Imperium; Rex Anglorum (Bede). Bretwalda (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).
617 to 618	Eni	ENI TYTTLING ESTANGLE CYNING ENI REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	not known to have reigned
c.624 to c.627	Eorpwald	EORPVVALD RÆDVVALDING ESTANGLE CYNING EORPVVALD REX ANGLORUM ORIENTALIUM	Murdered by Ricberht.
c.627 to c.629	Ricberht	RICBRYHT REX ANGLORUM ORIENTALIUM	not known to have reigned
c.629 to ?634	Sigeberht	SIGEBRYHT RÆDVVALDING ESTANGLE CYNING SIGEBRYHT REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Joint king with Ecgric; abdicated; Slain in battle; Saint Sigeberht. Son or Stepson of Rædwald.
ante 634 to ?636	Ecgric	ECGRIC ESTANGLE CYNING ECGRIC REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Slain in battle; kinsman of Sigeberht presumed son of Rædwald or Eni.
636 to 654	Anna	ANNA ENING ESTANGLE CYNING ANNA REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Slain in battle
654 to 15 November 654	Æthelhere	ÆÞELHERE ENING ESTANGLE CYNING ÆÞELHERE REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM
late 654 to 664	Æthelwold	ÆTHELVVOLD ENING ESTANGLE CYNING ÆÞELVVOLD REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM
663 or 664 to 713	Ealdwulf	EALDVVLF ESTANGLE CYNING EALDVVLF REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM
c.713 to 749	Ælfwald	ÆLFVVALD ESTANGLE CYNING ÆLFVVALD REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM
749 to ?	Hun	HVN ANGLORUM ORIENTALIUM	Joint ruler (possibly mythic)
749 to c.760	Beorna	BEORNA ESTANGLE CYNING BEORNA REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Joint king
749 to ?	Alberht	ALBERHT ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Joint ruler; also known as Æthelberht I
?c.760 to ?c.779	Æthelred I	ÆÞELRED ESTANGLE CYNING ÆÞELRED REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Possibly mythic
?779 to 794	Æthelberht II	ÆÞELBRYHT ESTANGLE CYNING ÆÞELBRYHT REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Saint Æthelbert. Executed at the command of Offa
Mercian Dynasty
c.760 to 796	Offa	OFFA ÞINCFRIÞING MIERCNA 7 ESTANGLE CYNING OFFA REX MERCIA ET ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS OFFA REX ANGLORVM	Held dominion over East Angles
East Anglian Dynasty
after 794 to ?	Eadwald	EADVVALD ESTANGLE CYNING EADVVALD REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM
Mercian Dynasty
c.796 to 821	Coenwulf	COENVVLF MIERCNA 7 ESTANGLE CYNING COENVVLF REX MERCIA ET ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Held dominion over East Angles
821 to 823	Ceolwulf	COELVVLF MIERCNA 7 ESTANGLE CYNING COELVVLF REX MERCIA ET ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Held dominion over East Angles
823 to 826	Beornwulf	BEORNVVLF MIERCNA 7 ESTANGLE CYNING BEORNVVLF REX MERCIA ET ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Held dominion over East Angles
East Anglian Dynasty
c.821 to c.839	Æthelstan	ÆÞELSTAN ESTANGLE CYNING ÆÞELSTAN REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	styled Rex Anglorum (coins)
c.839 to 855	Æthelweard	ÆÞELVVEARD ESTANGLE CYNING ÆÞELVVEARD REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM
855 to 20 November 870	Eadmund	EADMVND ESTANGLE CYNING EADMVND REX ANGLORVM ORIENTALIVM	Martyred; Saint Edmund. Styled Rex Anglorum (coins)
Sub-kings under Norse Suzerainty
870 to 876	Oswald	OSVVALD ESTANGLE CYNING OSVVALD REX ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Died 876
876 to 879	Æthelred II	ÆÞELRED ESTANGLE CYNING ÆÞELRED REX ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Replaced by Alfred the Great of Wessex in 879
879 to 890	Guthrum the Old	AÞELSTAN ESTANGLE CYNING AÞELSTAN REX ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Norse ruler Guthrum the Old, took name Æthelstan at baptism
890 to 902	Eohric (Eohric)	ERIC ESTANGLE CYNING ERIC REX ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Killed in battle December 902
902?	Æthelwold of Wessex	AÞELWALD ESTANGLE CYNING AÞELWALD REX ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Killed in battle December 902?
902 to 916	Guthrum II	GUTHRUM ESTANGLE CYNING GUTHRUM REX ANGLIÆ ORIENTALIS	Killed in battle 916

After 917, East Anglia was under the rule of Wessex, with subsequent rulers downgraded to the status of Earl of East Anglia.

See also

• Ralph de Guader, dubbed Prince of the East Angles
• Wuffing dynasty family tree

References

• Keynes, Simon, "Kings of the East Angles" in M. Lapidge, et al, (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0
• Ashley, Mike, The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens New York: Carroll & Graff, 1998. ISBN 0-7967-0692-9